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E Freese

Publications and source records attributed to E Freese.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1971

Regulation of two aspartokinases in Bacillus subtilis.

When grown on minimal glucose medium, transformable Bacillus subtilis strains contained two distinct aspartokinases (ATP:l-aspartate 4-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.2.4). One of these enzymes was inhibited by l-lysine (Lys), whereas the other was insensitive to inhibition but was activated by l-leucine. None of the other amino acids tested had any effect, and the addition of l-threonine did not enhance the inhibition by Lys, in contrast to the concerted inhibition observed for other bacilli. At the end of exponential growth, the Lys-sensitive aspartokinase activity decreased, whereas the Lys-insensitive activity remained relatively constant throughout the stationary phase. The two activities were separated by (NH(4))(2)SO(4) fractionation and Sephadex G-200 chromatography. Growth in the presence of Lys reduced the specific activity of aspartokinase by about 50% and eliminated the inhibition by Lys. In extracts of these cells, only Lys-insensitive activity was found upon (NH(4))(2)SO(4) fractionation and Sephadex G-200 chromatography. Lys apparently repressed the synthesis of the Lys-sensitive enzyme.

Ammonium Sulfate↗
PubMed1970

Growth, sporulation, and enzyme defects of glucosamine mutants of Bacillus subtilis.

Two glucosamine (GCA)-requiring mutants have been isolated which grow on glucose minimal or nutrient sporulation medium only in the presence of either GCA or acetyl-GCA. They lack the l-glutamine-d-fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.13), which is repressible by GCA and whose activity in the standard strain decreases after cessation of growth. But the mutants can grow on GCA as sole carbon and ammonia source, because GCA induces the synthesis of 2-amino-2-deoxy-d-glucose-6-phosphate ketol-isomerase (deaminating) (EC 5.3.1.10). With respect to sporulation, the GCA-requiring mutants are in a serious dilemma, as GCA represses the onset of massive sporulation and yet a small amount of GCA-6-phosphate derivatives is necessary to allow sporulation. When GCA is continuously provided in small quantities, sporelike particles are produced which contain little or no spore cortex but a normal spore coat. Apparently, GCA derivatives are needed especially for cortex formation. Many of the sporelike particles can produce colonies after octanol, but not after heat treatment. When they are purified by treatment with lysozyme and sodium dodecylsulfate, they do not show the decrease in optical density at 600 nm typical of germination nor do they produce offspring.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1970

Requirement for Acetate and Glycine (or Serine) for Sporulation Without Growth of Bacillus subtilis.

Cells of Bacillus subtilis sporulate when they are transferred, at any time of growth in nutrient sporulation medium, to a potassium-phosphate buffer containing slowly utilizable carbon sources such as l-aspartate, citrate, l-glutamate, or lactate. Transfer to buffer containing more rapidly utilizable carbon sources such as malate or glucose leads to sporulation only when the cells either had reached the end of growth or when the transfer medium also contains glycine. Acetate, which as a sole carbon source does not allow growth, also does not alone permit sporulation; however, the presence of both acetate (0.05 m) and glycine or l-serine (0.01 m) in the buffer medium allows sporulation if the cells are transferred to this medium after they have grown in the nutrient sporulation medium beyond the end of the exponential growth phase (T(0)). The development, required before transfer, does not seem to involve the end of a round of deoxyribonucleic acid duplication, as experiments with tryptophan-starved cells have indicated. Glycine or serine cannot be replaced by any of the known metabolites, which are partially derived from them. Amino acid analysis of nutrient sporulation medium showed that glycine (but not serine) is present at a concentration of 0.3 mm at the beginning of the developmental period, thus allowing, in combination with an acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) precursor, sporulation but not growth. Acetyl-CoA is required not only for adenosine-triphosphate synthesis but also for some other reactions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1969

Growth and sporulation of Bacillus subtilis mutants blocked in the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

Two "ACE" mutants of Bacillus subtilis which require acetate for growth on glucose minimal medium have been isolated. They do not grow with acetoin, 2,3-butanediol, fatty acids, isoleucine, lipoic acid, malic acid, pyruvic acid, succinic acid, thiamine, or valine, but respond somewhat to glutamate or citrate. The mutants lack the activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex; they excrete pyruvate and later acetoin. They grow in nutrient sporulation medium (NSMP) to one-half the normal turbidity and do not sporulate subsequently. When acetate is added to NSMP (at the optimal concentration of 0.07 m), the ACE mutants grow to the normal turbidity and then sporulate normally. Growth but not sporulation is restored in NSMP upon addition of 2,3-butanediol, citrate, glucose, glutamate, glycerol, or ribose, but not upon addition of acetoin, malate, oxaloacetate, pyruvate, and several other compounds. After growth in NSMP has stopped, the mutants incorporate uracil only at a very low rate, which can be increased by the addition of acetate, citrate, or glutamate. Furthermore, the metabolism of acetoin is prevented after growth has stopped but can be restored by the addition of acetate. All these results can be explained by a lack of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) resulting from the deficiency in acetylcoenzyme A. In fact, after growth of the ACE mutants had stopped, the NADH concentration was at the borderline of measurability, whereas it increased significantly upon addition of glucose. The growing standard strain contains, at the same bacterial turbidity, at least 20 times more NADH (230 pmole/optical density unit at 600 nm) than the nongrowing ACE mutants. The isolated spores, obtained after growth in NSMP plus acetate, can be initiated to germinate in the presence of either l-alanine or the combination of l-asparagine, fructose, glucose, and potassium; addition of acetate is not required and has no effect.

Acetates↗
PubMed1968

Initiation of the germination of Bacillus subtilis spores by a combination of compounds in place of L-alanine.

l-Alanine initiates the germination of spores of Bacillus subtilis by entering two metabolic pathways. The products of one pathway, which is inhibited by d-alanine or by elevated temperature, can also be derived from a combination of fructose, glucose, and K(+). The present study demonstrated that the products of the other pathway can be derived from l-asparagine or l-glutamine or, to a lesser extent, from several other amino acids. Hence, the combination of l-asparagine (or l-glutamine), fructose, glucose, and K(+) can initiate spore germination in the absence of l-alanine. Spores preincubated in a combination of asparagine and fructose do not lose refractility, optical density, or heat resistance, and do not take up methylene blue stain. The spores do, however, undergo some reaction which prepares them for a more rapid response to the later addition of glucose and K(+). This preincubation reaction has an optimal temperature of about 44 C.

Alanine↗
PubMed1968

Analysis of sporulation mutants. II. Mutants blocked in the citric acid cycle.

Sporulation mutants that were unable to incorporate uracil during the developmental period recovered this capacity with the addition of ribose and in most cases with the addition of glutamate. Of the mutants that responded to both ribose and glumate, all but three also responded to citrate, and all but five responded to acetate. One of the exceptional strains was deficient in aconitase and another one in aconitase and isocitrate dehydrogenase; both required glutamate for growth. For the mutants which did not respond to glutamate, the products made from (14)C-glutamate were determined by thin-layer chromatography. Significant differences were found which enabled the identification of mutant blocks. The deficiency of the corresponding enzyme activity was verified. Several mutants were deficient in alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and one lacked succinic dehydrogenase. These mutants could still grow on glucose as sole carbon source, but not on glutamate. The intact Krebs cycle is therefore not required for vegetative growth of aerobic Bacillis subtilis, but it is indispensable for sporulation.

Acetates↗
PubMed1968

Curing of a sporulation mutant and antibiotic activity of Bacillus subtilis.

Sporulation mutants of Bacillus subtilis, blocked either in the citric acid cycle or in another pathway necessary for uracil incorporation during the developmental period, were tested for their sporulation response to different carbon sources. All of the citric acid cycle mutants and all but one of the other mutants failed to respond. The one phenotypically curable mutant, 60764, responded to most metabolizable carboxylic acids, such as acetate and fatty acids, and to some other carbon sources. For an optimal response, it was necessary to add the compound at a certain concentration and time (0.08 m for acetate, when the extinction of the culture at 600 nm was 1). A liquid medium was devised in which an appreciable amount of antibiotic activity against Staphylococcus aureus was produced by our standard strain 60015. The mutant 60764 produced, even in the presence of palmitate, 20 times less antibiotic and sporulated more slowly than 60015. The antibiotic activity in both strains consisted of three major and several minor molecular species, as detected by thin-layer chromatography. When purified antibiotic was added to an exponentially growing culture of our standard strain of B. subtilis, lysis ensued, the extent of which increased with the concentration of the antibiotic added; later, resistant bacteria grew up. Three mutants unable to produce antibiotic activity were isolated and found to be deficient in sporulation. These findings show the close correlation between sporulation and antibiotic activity, but they do not prove that antibiotic activity is needed for sporulation.

Acetates↗
PubMed1967

Separation of two functional roles of L-alanine in the initiation of Bacillus subtilis spore germination.

Spores of the standard transformable Marburg strain of Bacillus subtilis can be initiated to germinate by l-alanine alone. We isolated mutants which required for this process, in addition to l-alanine, the combination of d-glucose + d-fructose + K(+) or NH(4) (+) ions. In place of fructose, autoclaved or caramelized glucose could be used. Even the standard type strain required the addition of these three agents when d-alanine was present or when the temperature was raised. These findings show that l-alanine normally performs two functions during initiation, one of which is absent in the mutants or is blocked by d-alanine or elevated temperature. One of our mutants was not absolutely dependent on the addition of external l-alanine, because it could be initiated at a reduced rate by the sole addition of glucose + K(+) or NH(4) (+). When K(+) or NH(4) (+) was replaced by Na(+), the initiation rate was greatly reduced. The divalent metal ions Mg(++), Mn(++), and Ca(++) could not satisfy the cation requirement.

Alanine↗
PubMed1967

Analysis of sporulation mutants. I. Response of uracil incorporation to carbon sources, and other mutant properties.

Mutants deficient in sporulation were isolated and characterized with respect to antibiotic and protease activity, transformability, growth, and sporulation. All but two mutants could grow on minimal medium containing glucose. The inability of most mutants to incorporate uracil into trichloroacetic acid-precipitable material (ribonucleic acid) during the developmental period, and their response to a number of carbon sources, were used to characterize their biochemical blocks. Reproducible measurements of these responses were possible when the pH of the culture, which changed during growth and greatly influenced the rate of uracil uptake, was adjusted to 6.5. By their response to ribose and glutamate, the sporulation mutants could then be divided into four groups. All mutants of the first three groups produced antibiotic activity against Staphylococcus aureus, whereas all mutants, except one, of the fourth group produced none or very little of this activity. Mutants which did not respond to glutamate belonged to the first three groups; they also grew slowly or not at all on glutamate as sole carbon source. One of these mutants lacked succinic dehydrogenase activity. The results indicate that most of our sporulation mutants are unable to produce or utilize a natural carbon precursor, which is normally used as a slowly available carbon and energy source via the Krebs cycle when other carbon sources are used up. It enters the Krebs cycle as a precursor of alpha-ketoglutarate, probably via acetylcoenzyme A. All mutants of group four are blocked in this pathway before alpha-ketoglutarate.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗